I read in TechCrunch that ZestCash, just raised $73 million round of funding. $23 million is equity (Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, and Lighthouse Capital Partner) and they secured a $50 million line of credit (Victory Park Capital).
Now they have $73M to play with. I bet they spend the $23 million on lead acquisition and the $50 million to back loans. Is this huge news? I think for a couple of reasons:
- The cash advance industry has an image problem. When high profile people get involved ( Montel Williams shout out?) it brings a higher level of legitimacy.
- They’re not Advance America $600M + revenues, but it will be interesting to see what happens.
Here is what I found interesting:
- The founder is a Google guy, but he site has very little SEO. They rank in the top 5 for very few keywords (see below). This means they’re buying leads.
- They’e in four states— Utah, Idaho, Missouri and South Dakota. I’m surprised that when you place an application from another state, they just say something like, sorry, we’re can’t give you a loan. They’re not selling unused leads. They make it clear that they’re going into other states.
- They’re not payday loans. Allegedly, they let you select how much you want to pay? It’s on their website HERE.
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